And Baby Makes Three
by x-Louise-x
Summary: Or does it? Neil/Grace  AU
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this is my first Bill fanfic – actually this is my first **_**fiction**_** full stop. I am aware it may be a touch out of character, particularly with Neil but as this will be AU and blissfully ignorant of Jake having leukaemia etc. it may not matter too much.  
It will be Neil/Grace obviously, some fluff but I don't think there will be a total lack of bumps along the road.  
Enjoy and please R&R!**

"So," Max Carter grinned vindictively, "You and the DI made quick work of leaving the pub last night. I don't think either of you lasted longer than the third round. Long night was it?"

Banksy watched as Grace's grip on her pen tightened, her knuckles turning white, unaware that it was more to do with the churning of her stomach than what Max had just said. "Leave her alone Max, ignore him Grace." Glaring angrily at Max Banksy turned back to his work, just in time to see DC Dasari drop her pen and run from CID. "Well done, Max."

"She needs to stop being so sensitive," Max sighed. "Wasn't looking too great was she? She looked a little pale to me." He peered after her, looking particularly excited.

"Don't even go there, Max." Banksy warned as Terry and Mickey burst into CID, laughing about last night's darts competition. "Don't even say it."

Grace shivered slightly as she leaned back against the cubicle wall. Not for the first morning that week, correction that _month_, she hadn't even made it to nine o'clock without throwing up but no one had noticed and maybe if it stayed that way she could continue to ignore it. Maybe –

"Grace?" A voice, a voice belonging to Jo Masters hovered in the silence. "Are you okay sweetheart?" Slowly wiping away the tears stinging in her eyes Grace opened the cubicle door to face her friend.

"Fine," she smiled as best she could. "I'm just fine."

"Well, if throwing your guts up is fine then you're in tip top condition but-"

"Jo, please, just leave it."

"Grace, how long have you and Manson being going out?" Jo watched as Grace turned on a tap and splashed her face with cold water.

"Couple of months," she shrugged. "Not long." She paused then, "I'm not-"

"Pregnant?" Jo filled in. "How sure are you?"

Slumping onto a bench Grace let out a sigh. "Not sure at all."

"How long since your last –"

"A while," she shivered. "I'm avoiding acknowledging it."

"You need to find out Grace." Jo sat down beside her. "If you are, you need to tell him."

"But he already has a son. What about Jake?" Grace sighed. "I've only met him four or five times, if I am pregnant it'll be a lot for him to take – and what about Neil?" She ran a hand through her hair. "What's Neil going to think?"

"If he loves you like I think he loves you then he'll be over the moon." Jo smiled. "Never mind them Grace, what about you? This isn't all down to you y'know. It's not _all_ your fault."

"I might not be." She maintained stubbornly. "I'm probably not, this is all a stupid fuss over nothing."

"Only one way to find out."

"Where's DC Dasari?" Neil Manson asked spying Grace's empty chair.

Banksy looked up. "Ran out about an hour ago.."

"Why?" Neil interjected.

"Looked ill boss-" Max started but Banksy cut him off.

"Max was being insensitive gov, she probably needed some time to cool off before she murdered him."

"What did you say DS Carter?"

"She was being overly sensitive boss." By now the whole of CID was listening in. "But before DC Banks rudely interrupted me I was saying that Grace wasn't looking very well." He smirked. "Not her usual self if you ask me." Neil gritted his teeth.

"When she gets back, tell her I want a word." With that he turned his back and entered his office, making a point of closing the blinds.

"Well, that proves it." Max announced gleefully. "Our fearless leader has gone and knocked everyone's favourite DC up." He rubbed his hands together. "Oh, the fall out will be _huge._"

"Knock it off Max." Terry growled, switching into protective mode. "Banksy's probably right, she probably had to leave or kill you and she chose to be the better person."

"Not that your death would have been a loss to society. Being a coke head and all that," Mickey grumbled, tapping away on his keyboard.

Just then Grace re-entered CID looking drawn and pale – just as Max had said – and chaperoned by a formidable looking Jo Masters. Grace's eyes were red ringed as though she'd been crying and she didn't look at any of her colleagues as she knocked lightly on DI Manson's door and entered.

"I knew it," Max grinned, "I knew it."

"Shut it, Max." Jo spat angrily. "If you say _anything_ to her so help me I will kill you."

"So she's pregnant then?" Max laughed.

"It's not my place to say and it's none of your business anyway." Whipping out her phone she sent a quick text and stalked out of the room. "I have a job to do."

At the other side of the room Stevie Moss' phone vibrated in her pocket.

_From Jo: Keep an eye on her. _

"Grace?" Neil was panicking. It was evident in the way his voice was shaking and his eyes kept raking her over – and no wonder. She'd seen her reflection in the mirror soon after the little plus sign had appeared on the test and she looked terrible.

"I think you should sit down." She mumbled.

"Grace-"

"Please." She pleaded and grudgingly he sat down watching her wring her hands nervously. _Deep breaths, it's not such a big deal. If he reacts badly you can still raise the baby on your own. _"I'm pregnant."

She watched him, terrified that he was going to freak out. Instead a slow smile spread across his face. "That's brilliant." He stood up and stepped around his desk. "I'm so happy."

"You're not.. you're not upset?"

"Upset?" He pulled her against him and she melted into his embrace. "Grace I'm ecstatic. When I saw you come in I thought you were ending it." He grinned. "How far a long are you?"

"I don't know, Jo made me call my GP and he can fit me in this morning at eleven – if you let me go."

"Sure, that's fine."

"You don't think it's too soon?" She mumbled into his shoulder.

"No, I can't think of anyone else in the world I want to be with." He kissed her lightly on the forehead. "I love you."

"Mmm," she mumbled. "I'd love you too if I wasn't throwing up every morning."

"DC Dasari is taking the morning off," Neil announced as Grace left the room looking a lot happier than she had been fifteen minutes previously. "She isn't feeling well at the moment and that is all that's going to be said." He glared at Max. "Understand?"

"Yes gov." The various DCs and DSs chorused back.

Mac just grinned wider. "I _knew_ it."

**So, what did y'all think? I'm not sure if Neil (or Grace) would handle a situation like that quite so calmly – but this is all make believe!  
If you'd like a continuation of this story please push the green button and leave a little review please! :D**


	2. The Problem with Spain

**Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews you guys gave me. More of them please!  
So, I reckon there are a couple of things you guys need to know before you read this chapter. Jake's mum has married her boyfriend Liam and they have a son together whom Jake dislikes. Neil has met Grace's parents and Grace has met Neil's mother. It's all rather complicated and messed up in my head but I'm sure in time everything will become much clearer.  
This is the first of a few bumps along the road that I have planned but I can promise you now that there will be a happy ending so continue reading!**

"Jake?" The sudden appearance of his son in CID at four thirty in the afternoon was enough to worry Neil Manson. He opened the door to his office and ushered him inside, away from the prying eyes and pricked ears of his staff. "What's up mate?" Jake tossed his school bag across the room and flung himself into one of the empty chairs before his dad's desk. Anger burned in his bright green eyes, the only resemblance he bore to his mother, and Neil knew immediately that his day was about to take a turn.

"Liam wants to move back to Spain." He grumbled crossing his arms.

"I'm sure he _wants _to Jake but your mum said at the weekend when she picked you up that she wasn't going to even consider it until you finished up primary school."

"She's considering it alright. When I got home she was on the phone to Pedro, the guy who's renting the villa we lived in. She wants to know when the earliest he can move out is." Neil's stomach plummeted; he didn't want to lose his son all over again. He'd never seen him if he went back to Spain. "I can't go back dad. I miss you too much and I've got friends here now and I hate having to speak in Spanish all the time!" Aware of how spoilt he sounded Jake just stopped talking and stared resolutely out the window. "I won't go."

Suddenly, the phone on Neil's desk rang causing them both to jump. "Manson." Neil paused and then looked over at Jake. "Yes Phillipa he's with me." Another pause, "He heard you on the phone to the guy in Spain." And again, "He doesn't want to go back – yeah I know that." He slammed the phone down. Talking to his ex-wife didn't normally infuriate him but when she yelled at him he liked nothing better than to put the phone down and wish her away.

"Your mum says that you might be upset but it was no reason to run half way across Sun Hill – and you're grounded because you're nine years old and shouldn't be running around London." Jake groaned angrily as his dad crossed over to the window and lent on the sill. "Look Jake, I know things have been tough for you this past year with your mum having Ollie but she does love you and wants the best for you –"

"And so do you." Jake interjected. "But you don't move me from country to country all the time." He pulled his sleeves over his hand. "Do I have to go back?" He tried, "Can't I stay with you?"

At any other time, on any other day Neil would have danced round the room singing yes but today he had found out that Jake was not the only one to be considered anymore, that there was soon going to be more than Jake to think about. "Jake, I –"

"I know you're with Grace now Dad but I like Grace, she's well nicer than Liam and even if she moves in with you or you guys get some place together I swear I won't cause any trouble." He was pleading now. "Just don't make me go back to Spain."

"It's not as easy as that mate. There's custody to consider and you know your mum has primary custody, she has to sign off on it all." Neil knelt down beside him. "I would take you on in a heartbeat Jakey but there's something else that you should know." He paused uncomfortably. "Jake you will always be my son and I am always going to love you no matter what and I want nothing more than for you to live with me – but things will be just as difficult with me as they are with your mum."

"But I like –"

"Do you like Ollie?" Neil cut across him, turning the conversation to Jake's six month old half-brother.

"No, he's the spawn of Satan." Jake spat. "He's such a pain."

"What if Grace were to have a baby? Would you hate that baby too?"

Jake looked at his dad stunned. "What? No – no. I don't like Ollie because I don't like Liam. You know how to spend time with me and Grace _together_ but mum only gives Liam her attention and Ollie gets what's left now. She forgot to pick me up at school twice last week because Ollie needed fed." Jake paused, considering how much he liked his dad's girlfriend compared to how much he liked Liam (which was substantially more) and then asked, "Is Grace going to have a baby?"

"She forgot to pick you up?" Neil seethed, angry at Jake having been forgotten about. "How long did you wait?"

"Half an hour, the school had to phone her – but you didn't answer my question."

"I can't believe that. Look, I'll have to talk to Grace about all of this, yeah?" Forgetting his question for a second Jake nodded. "She and I have a lot to talk about – and in answer to your question, if I know then you'll know."

"So if she ever does get pregnant you'll tell me?" Jake asked as his dad pulled out a tenner from his wallet.

"Yeah, look take this, buy yourself something to eat in the canteen and I'll take you to mum's when you're done." Jake accepted the money and left the room, neglecting his abandoned school bag that was still lying on the floor. Neil felt guilty at having lied to his son but picked up his mobile and hit speed dial, knowing if he spoke to Grace things might be a little easier to sort through.

"Hey," Grace answered.

"Hi," Neil replied a smile on his face at the sound of her voice. "We have a problem already."

"What?" Grace asked panicked. "What's wrong?"

"Phillipa is moving back to Spain after Christmas and Jake has thrown the rattle out of the pram." Neil sighed. "He wants to move in with me."

"Well that's good isn't it?" She asked, her voice seemingly calm again.

"Grace, you're pregnant and Jake has had major issues adjusting to the idea of his mother's new baby."

Grace curled her legs beneath her on her sofa, determined she would not stress out until there was definitely something to panic about. She knew that if she panicked then Neil would panic even more. "Well, maybe Phillipa didn't handle it all that well."

"I don't think she did." Neil considered.

"How about this, if Jake is dead set on not going back to Spain then he can move in with you, we give him time to get settled at yours before we even think about me and the baby and I get the pleasure of telling him the news so that you're not the panto villain for a change." Grace was acutely aware of the fact that her heart was racing at the thought of Neil having to choose between her and his son.

"Sounds better than my idea."

"Which was?"

"Pretend that everything's normal until we can't ignore the fact that you're pregnant."

Grace laughed. "Yeah because with Jake it would really be that simple."

"Y'know, you really are a genius." He smirked. "Do you have an appointment at the hospital yet?"

"The doctor reckons I'm about nine weeks so I should get an appointment card in for three weeks time." Unconsciously she traced her fingers over her flat stomach, realising suddenly that inside, there was another life. "I've just realised something –"

"What?"

"I'm actually pregnant." Neil doubled over laughing.

"And you call me Captain Obvious." Looking out the window he saw Jake returning with a bottle of coke and a bag of crisps. "Look, I have to go but I'll come around later yeah?"

"Yeah, see you later." Grace smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too, bye." He put the phone down just as Jake came back in.

"Was that Grace?" He teased sitting back in his chair.

"When I said something to eat I envisioned something a bit more substantial."

"Well," Jake said a smirk on his face. "Smithy and I decided in the canteen that with the extra seven odd quid you can by me a McDonalds on the way back to mums."

In reality Grace Dasari was not as calm as she had appeared during the phone call with Neil. Her mind was racing and she was considering all the things that could go wrong in the situation she found herself in – pregnant, unmarried and the father of her child going through a major crisis with his son. Jake seemed to like her at the moment but what if Jake started to see her as someone who got between him and his dad? What if he resented the baby as much as Grace knew he disliked Ollie? What if she and Neil ended up falling out over the whole situation and another child ended up having to live between two parents before they'd even been born? Grace sighed and glanced at the picture of her family that had been taken three months before.

Her brother had her arm around her, their parents on either side of them – would her child ever have that kind of relationship with Jake? She could hear Hareem's voice in her head as she thought of telling him she was pregnant.  
_"Aria Grace! You never liked doing things by the book did you? I can't wait until dad finds out!"  
_Yes, her perfect brother who had married the girl that their father had handpicked and who chose to live with the name their parents had given him rather than with an "English" name that Grace had opted for to blend in, who had given him two grandsons already. Grace shuddered when she thought of Hareem slaving away in court all day as a lawyer. She'd much rather be at Sun Hill. Grace loved winding her brother up, calling him Harry as he'd been called all through school and then refusing to answer to her own "Indian" name as they used to call it. She cringed when she remembered having to explain that she was "Aria" to her family rather than Grace to Neil. He'd found it rather amusing and had taken to calling her Aria whenever the chance arose – which pleased her father no end.

It was funny to think that despite everything about Neil that made him so unlike Sunil, the boy her father would have had her marry, Saleem Dasari still approved of the man who Grace had introduced him too. It was something that annoyed Harry, Grace supposed, that no matter what she did to rebel her father rarely batted an eyelid. You want to be a police officer? Fine. You dumped Sunny? That's okay. She wondered silently if the banter she had enjoyed – and still did – with her brother would be anything like the way her child and Jake got on.

She'd watched Neil and his sister bicker amiably over cups of tea when she had met his mother Paula and that made her think again of what kind of relationship Jake and the baby would have. The old woman had taken to Grace the way her own family had taken to Neil – very well. Even Neil's nephew Drew loved "Auntie" Grace and had been demanding to see her again ever since she left according to the phone call Neil had had with his sister.

Deciding that worrying about it was getting her nowhere Grace picked up the phone from the table beside her and dialled a familiar number.

"Jo – you free to talk?"

And the unburdening began.

**Okay, so I managed to squeeze in writing a chapter between revising for exams that seem a long way away just now but have slowly begun creeping up on me. Just like last time – review, review, review!**


	3. Whisky is the Best Medicine

**Okay so this is the last of the pre-prepared chapters so there may be a bigger gap between postings. *hides* Sorry guys but school work will have to intervene I have Latin to learn and prelims to study for! Have lot of ideas about what's going to happen next. Please Review and thanks to everyone who already has! Thank you all for reading!**

The pale glow of the December sun filtered through a gap in the curtains lighting up a room in which hastily shed clothes were strewn over the floor. Whenever he spent the night with Grace or vice versa he always made a point of forcing himself to wake before she did because Neil Manson always took great pleasure in watching his girlfriend sleep. It was quiet mornings like this one, when she slept curled against him with a small smile on her face, that he coveted knowing only too well that Grace would never allow him to stare at her for any extended period of time when she was awake. _You're making me feel extremely self conscious!_ She would say. Neil chuckled and gently tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear.

"I know you're staring at me." Grace mumbled, her eyes remaining closed.

"Really?"

"Really," Grace repeated opening her eyes.

"Breakfast this morning?" Neil asked tentatively unsure of how she was feeling.

"Maybe," Grace sighed. "Let me wake up a bit first." Neil kissed her gently on the lips, sliding down beside her as he did so, a hand tracing patterns on her stomach which had become ever so slightly rounded and more noticeable. Giggling slightly, Grace swatted his hand away. "Am I going alone today?" She mumbled against his lips. "Or are you going to come along?"

"Do you honestly think I would miss this?" Neil asked remembering guiltily that he hadn't been at Phillipa's first scan when she was pregnant with Jake – oh the telling off he'd gotten. "I'm going to call in sick, you have the day off anyway, and they're only detectives they shouldn't read too much into it."

"We're going to have to tell them eventually," Grace said, imagining the vindictively gleeful expression which Max Carter would sport until she left on maternity leave. "You have to tell Meadows about us."

"He already knows about us." Neil replied. "Can you honestly say you haven't noticed that you are always reporting back to Max or Stevie and not me? He said I have to take a step back." Neil chuckled. "But after today you're on desk duty until I kick you out on maternity leave," noticing the annoyed look Grace shot him he added. "That's an order DC Dasari."

"I'm sure I would be taking you a whole lot seriously if you didn't have your arms around me." She laughed, snuggling into his chest.

"Grace-" He began seriously. However he didn't have time to finish because Grace had jumped up, thrown on his discarded t-shirt and bolted from the room. Next thing he heard was the bathroom door slamming and the sound of vomiting. Pulling in boxers Neil followed her and pushed open the door gently. "Are you okay?" Flushing the toilet and slumping against the radiator Grace nodded and gave a weak smile.

"I'll be fine now." She chuckled. "It's a no to your offer of breakfast by the way."

"Never mind," Neil said offering her a hand. "Come on, you can laugh at me while I try and explain to DS Carter that I won't be in today."

Three hours and a fifteen phone call in which he lied through his teeth that he would not be spending the day with his "favourite DC" as Max had put it later, Neil was pulling into a space in St Hugh's Hospital.

"Ready?" He asked, looking across at Grace. She was looking pretty pale again but, putting on a smile, she reached out and gripped his hand.

"Ready."

Meanwhile Max Carter was deep in thought. The boss had pulled his first sick day in the history of forever on the day that Grace just happened to have a "doctor's appointment". Either they were holed up in one of their houses getting carried away or the claim he'd made of Grace being pregnant actually had grounds for being true. Smiling evilly Max turned to Banksy.

"I think I was right again."

"About what?" Banksy grumbled.

"Right about the DI knocking Gracie dearest up."

"Come on Carter there's no way she's –"

"Pregnant?" Max interjected. "Explain why she looks like death warmed up every day until around one in the afternoon, can't handle even the smell of coffee in the mornings and Neil Manson shoots her disapproving looks whenever she leaves the building to follow up leads – she's pregnant I'm telling you."

"Not the Grace is pregnant theory again?" Terry groaned into his coffee cup. "Are you being serious, Carter?"

"I'm telling you-"

"Shut it." Stevie shot at Max, knowing the truth of the situation. "It's none of your business Carter if she is pregnant and if it's true then good luck to her and the boss."

"Well said Stevie," Mickey said, grinning as Carter crawled back into his snake's pit of a mind and the room fell into heavy silence.

The waiting room in gynaecology was pretty empty but that only served to make Grace more nervous about the aftermath, of what would happen once she walked out of that room.

"You realise of course that after this we have to tell everyone at work?" Grace asked. "That we have to tell our parents and you have to tell Jake?" Neil looked at her in mock horror.

"I thought you were telling Jake?"

"Ha ha." She muttered under her breath. "I will but you're going to be there if I have to drag you kicking and screaming."

"Dragging me?" Neil raised his eyebrows, "In your condition?"

"If you say that one more time –"

"Grace Dasari?"

"Oh god," Grace mumbled standing up and walking towards the nurse, Neil in tow behind her.

"Good morning," the nurse smiled. "You must be Grace then, I'm Kerry and this is –" She looked at Neil.

"I'm Neil Manson, Grace's partner."

"Lovely," Kerry, a tiny blonde who reminded them both of Stevie, said closing the door behind them. "Well, Grace if you could get up on the bed and Neil if you could take a seat over there we can get started." The pair obliged and the nurse pulled a bottle from the fridge and switched the monitor beside Grace's head on. "Now this is going to be cold," Kerry said as Grace pulled her top up. Jumping ever so slightly as the gel touched her skin Grace looked to Neil who reached across and grabbed her hand. "Okay, let's see this baby." There was the sudden beating of a tiny heart as the image of tiny baby jumped on screen. "Say hello Mum and Dad."

"That's amazing," Neil gasped. Grace just laid on the bed, watching her baby, a smile wide on her face. While unbeknownst to the pair of them Kerry had spotted something else on the scan. Moving the Doppler around, the picture changed and two heart beats could be heard hammering and the tiny picture of two babies filled the screen.

"Congratulations," Kerry said. "It's twins."

"Twins?" Paula Manson screeched down the phone. "Neil, that's wonderful! How far along?"

"About three months." Neil replied happily as Grace handed him a mug of tea and sat down beside him on his sofa. "Yeah, the doctor who spoke to us afterwards said that they would be identical." He chuckled slightly, sipping on the liquid. "No we didn't find out. We decided to wait. Okay mum, see you later." Looking towards Grace Neil and handed her the phone. "Are you sure you don't want to tell your parents face to face?"

"Positive." Grace grinned. "I can just imagine my father's reaction; he'd probably attempt to kill you." Dialling the number quickly, Grace rested her head on Neil's shoulder and waited patiently for someone to answer.

"Hello?" Her mother – relief swelled in her.

"Mum it's me."

"Oh Gracie darling, how are you?" The woman said happily.

"I'm great mum but you'd better not let dad hear you call me Gracie."

"Oh the old bugger's out watching Harry's boys at some football tournament." Samia Dasari laughed. "I'll call my daughter whatever I want to call her."

"Are you sitting down mum?"

"Course I am sweetheart, have you something terrible to tell me?" Her mother sighed. "You haven't gone and dumped Neil have you? He was such a nice boy."

"No mum, it's actually quite good news." She paused, but her mother waited patiently. "I'm pregnant."

"What? Oh Aria that is wonderful news! When did you find out?" Grace smiled, relief, not for the first time that day, filling her body and silently laughing at the change in name.

"Couple of weeks ago – but I didn't want to tell you until I was sure. I'm around thirteen weeks – and it's twins."

"Twins? Oh baby, that is something! I'm so happy for you. You could have been a bit more conventional about it is all I'll say." She tutted.

"Do not even _mention_ the "m" word mother or I'll hang up."

"'M' word?" Neil mouthed. Grabbing a pen Grace scribbled _marriage_ on his hand and Neil cracked up laughing.

"Listen sweetheart, I'll tell your dad when he comes back and I've given him a few whiskies but you better come for lunch on Sunday – ask Neil to bring his son we'd love to meet him – and we'll have Harry and Jess and the boys around as well okay?"

"Okay mum. Is this you hanging up?" Grace asked lightly.

"I have to plan the best way to tell your father!" Samia replied indignantly before changing her tone. "Congratulations sweetheart, I'm awfully proud of you."

"Bye mum."

Neil chuckled, "That was quick! I think my mother spoke to me for over twenty minutes."

"She's paranoid over how to tell my dad – she knows she'll have to be gentle about it." Grace said sitting the phone in the cradle. "He'll get over it though – I'm the favourite."

"I'm sure Hareem will be delighted to hear you say that."

"He knows it anyway – my mother wants us to go over on Sunday for lunch is that okay?"

"Should be – as long as we can take Jake, he's at mine this weekend."

"Great," Grace laughed. "You can tell him on Friday after school, make it up to him on Saturday by taking him to the football and then tell him as much as none of us want to we have to go to my parents for Sunday lunch."

"I thought we discussed this Dasari – you're telling Jake."

"Telling Jake what?"

Neil spun round; a red eyed Jake was standing in the living room doorway, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Mate what's wrong? Have you run away again?"

"Pedro's leaving the villa on January second. We're moving back to Spain in five weeks!" Jake stormed.

"I'll talk to your mum-"

"You have to dad!" Jake stopped, spying Grace. "Oh hi Grace, what is it you have to tell me?"

**Dun, dun, dun! You'll have to wait until next time to see if they tell him the truth won't you? Reviews please!**


	4. The Truth?

**Hello again! Firstly I must apologise profusely for not updating for so long. Life, exams and exhaustion got in the way so I'm really, really sorry. Secondly, I'd like to thank you for all the lovely reviews I've received – you guys have inspired me to carry on. So, sorry for the wait and I hope you enjoy chapter four!**

"_So what is it you have to tell me Grace?"_

They shared a stricken look and Neil could sense the tension building in her - yet she swallowed the urge to pass the buck to Jake's father and cleared her throat.

"Why don't you come and sit down? Neil, you don't fancy sticking the kettle on do you?" Neil quickly obliged, practically bolting from the living room as Jake sat down beside Grace. He watched her, sitting with her legs in a basket and twiddling her thumbs nervously. Jake could see that it was difficult for her to find words and immediately guessed she was going to announce something important. "I know you've had a rough couple of months with your mum having a baby and now Liam wants to move back to Spain." She paused while he nodded, and made a Neil-like grunt in agreement which made her smile ever so slightly. "I know that you and I are just getting to know each other and you understand that just because I'm with your dad it doesn't mean that he loves you any less than he ever did – and that even though it doesn't seem like it right now, just because your mum has Ollie and Liam in the picture now, it hasn't changed the way she loves you, don't you?" Jake nodded again, he was starting to realise where this soliloquy was headed, he'd had his suspicions since the evasive conversation he'd had in his dad's office weeks before. "I know that you want to live with your dad if your mum decides to head back to Spain and I'm fine with that because you're his son and you're the most important thing in the world to him. You know that things are going to change soon anyway – with the potential move and such – but there's something else that's going to change as well." Grace tailed off slightly, panicking as she began to build up to the climax.

"You're going to have a baby aren't you?" Neil, who'd been ear wigging in the kitchen almost died on the spot. Maybe he hadn't kept his composure during that conversation in his office as well as he'd presumed he had. Meanwhile, Jake was watching Grace who looked as if she wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole. Colour had flooded her cheeks and she looked at her hands awkwardly.

"How did you guess?" She asked, her voice almost a whisper.

"Dad gave it away – I think he thought he kept his cool well enough but he slipped up and I started having my suspicions." As if summoned by the reference his dad appeared in the doorway.

"And you're okay with this?" Neil asked, sitting down on the arm of the sofa at Grace's shoulder.

"I guess." Jake mumbled. "We can still go to the football though, right? Our monthly game? And, can I still stay with you if mum goes to Spain?"

"Of course," Grace supplied, "like I tried to explain, he's your dad and you come first. Grumpy will still take you to see Chelsea and he'll still spend time with you whenever you want him to."

Jake smiled ever so slightly as he watched his dad pout slightly and punch Grace lightly on the shoulder. He was almost about to speak when the front door was rapped upon loudly and he could hear his mother muttering angrily to someone she presumed was his step father. He watched his dad wince and Grace got uncomfortable as Neil left her side to open the door.

"He better be here Neil or so help me god when I get my hands on him I'll murder him." He heard anger and fear and panic rolled into his mother's voice all at once. He heard the rap of her heels clipping the tiles as she stalked down the hall. She appeared in the doorway seconds later, her eyes ringed as though she'd been crying slightly, Liam standing behind her with baby Ollie gurgling in his arms. "What the hell were you thinking?" Phillipa seethed, clapping eyes on Jake. "This is the second time in a month that you've ran halfway across London – anything could have happened Jake! You could have been kidnapped or killed or hit by a bus. What is wrong with you?"

"I don't want to go to Spain."

"Don't be such a spoilt brat Jake Manson! You don't have much of an option do you considering that I'm the parent and you're the child. We're going to back to Spain in January because Spain is home Jake. That's where we've lived for four years and that's where we'll live for the next fourteen years – it's home."

"London's home to me." Jake countered. "I don't want to go back to Spain unless we're going on holiday, I want to stay in England."

"Well you can't."

"I want to stay with my dad." He finished, cutting over what his mother was about to say. For the first time in the months since Ollie had been born Phillipa properly looked at her son. She could see anger burning in his eyes, when he glanced towards his baby half brother she could feel the resentment fill the air between her sons. He couldn't even bare to make eye contact with his step father. She watched as he looked towards he ex-husband his eyes instead filling with bright hope and complete trust, the gentle smile he shot Grace –and wondered when all this had happened, when her son had become so unhappy in her, _his_, own home. "Dad said that's alright, didn't you?"

"You're my son. Of course it is." Neil smiled gently.

"And what about her?" Phillipa spat, lashing out in her hurt at being rejected.

"Leave Grace out of this." Jake jumped in defensively, rubbing salt in an already throbbing wound. "She's been really nice about me wanting to move back in with dad." Grace fought to hide a blush and Phillipa watched in anger as Neil reached out and put an arm around her.

"I think you should go and cool down Phillipa. Neither you nor Jake are in the right frame of mind to discuss living arrangements at the moment." Neil glanced at his ex-wife who looked as if she were about to explode. As if sensing it however Liam stepped in, placing a gentle hand on his wife's shoulder.

"Come on Phil, Neil's right." He gently pulled her back. "You don't mind if Jake stays here tonight do you, Neil? I think you're right about them needing a cool down." Liam asked in his slightly accented voice that came with having spoken Spanish all day every day since he was little.

"Not at all – he was coming over this weekend anyway. I'll bring him back on Sunday night as normal, Liam."

"Thanks mate."

Jake sighed in relief, his shoulders sagging as though a weight had been lifted as the door clicked shut. He closed his eyes and sank into the corner of the sofa. "I hate hurting her." He mumbled, "but she's hurting me too." A tear slid down his cheek.

"She knows that you don't mean it, Jake." Grace said gently.

"You think?" He looked up at his dad's girlfriend watching him with gentle eyes. "I hope you're right."

"Hey, come on." Grace says when she sees a tear slide down his cheek. "It's alright."

"I just hate having to choose all the time." He groaned, trying to wipe his tears away. "I love both of them. I just wish mum wouldn't make things difficult by moving to Spain." He sees Grace reach toward him and edges over to her sliding into a warm hug. He buries his head in her shoulder, both of them slightly taken aback by the giant bonding leap that had just been taken. Grace rubbed a hand gently on his back.

"It's going to be okay, I promise."

They stayed in the same position until Neil came back in with the long since forgotten mugs of tea and the hot chocolate he'd decided to make Jake. He paused with a smile on his face to watch his partner cuddle his nine year old son, neither of whom looked the least bit awkward to be as close.

_Not the best moment to tell him that we're having twins then,_ was what Grace and Neil simultaneously thought as their eyes met over the top of his son's dark head.

The traffic lights turned to red and Neil took another unsubtle glance at his son. Jake was decked out in his Chelsea finery, the new season's home strip with his Chelsea tracksuit jacket and blue and white scarf over a pair of dark jeans. He looked happier today – they'd spent the previous night eating pizza and watching movies trying to take Jake's mind off of the argument with his mum – and he was swinging his feet and humming "blue is the colour" absently. Neil's stomach was churning. They weren't far from home by then and he had promised that he'd tell Jake about the twins because it was sure to be discussed at the Dasari's lunch the next day. He didn't know if it was the best time to be making life more difficult for his nine year old son but he'd seemed to take the news that Grace was pregnant pretty well. He'd even volunteered the thought – without being asked – that he'd like a sister, and he hadn't said "half" sister. That could only be a good thing right?"

"If I asked you a question would you answer it honestly?" Neil asked, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. Jake stopped humming and turned to face his dad.

"Depends on the question," Jake started cautiously. "If it's 'do I believe in the tooth fairy' then I'd tell you yes because I want money for the rest of my baby teeth."

Neil chuckled lightly. "So you don't believe in the tooth fairy, huh?"

"Did I say that?"

"It was implied." Neil smiled. "I want to ask a question about Grace."

Jake's eyes clouded with suspicion. "What about her?"

"You like her don't you? And you don't mind that she's pregnant?"

"Yes and no."

"If you could decide for us would it bother you if we had more than one baby?" Jake chuckled lightly.

"Is this you asking me for permission to have more than one kid?" He glanced out of the window. "I don't think it would bother me – as long as we still went to the football and had our Saturdays out. We would still have those wouldn't we?"

"Of course we would Jakey, I thought Grace and me told you last night? Nothing changes between you and me."

"So you want more than one baby together?" Jake continued the conversation.

"Reach into my pocket and take out my wallet." Neil said, concentrating on the road. "It's in the pocket nearest you." Jake did as he was told and took out the wallet. "Where the money normally goes is the ultrasound pictures we got taken yesterday. Have a look at them." Jake slid them out and carefully unfolded them so that four pictures sat across his lap. There were words in the top corners.

_Baby Manson (A)_, it read on two and on the other two – _Baby Manson (B)._

"Two?" Jake asked in a soft whisper. "There are two babies?"

"What are your thoughts?" Neil asked gently. "Try and be honest."

"I-I don't know. I just, um, I don't know."

"You can tell me, I won't mind if it bothers you." Neil was starting to panic.

But he needn't have. As if struck suddenly by some random thought Jake began to smile. He slid a finger over the ultrasounds and looked up. "I bet they're tiny." He breathed. "And there really are two? Twins?" Neil nodded. "There are two tiny people inside Grace right now." He laughed. "Dad – that's crazy!"

"I'm having trouble dealing with the idea myself." Neil joked lightly. "Are you okay about this? Remember, you can still come and live with me, we can still go see Chelsea and have our own games in the park, we'll still go swimming and do all the things we've always done – and it might be even cooler to teach your brothers or sisters how to swim and play games as well won't it?"

"Yeah," Jake agreed. "I hope I get at least one sister." He mused. "I'd really like two though."

"You wouldn't prefer brothers?" Neil asked, glad that he was being positive.

"I don't think so. I kinda like the idea of having a little sister because when you're little brother gets older they don't really need to be looked after but a little sister always does – like you and auntie Emma. You're always looking out for her even though she isn't a baby anymore."

"You want someone to be protective over? I bet they'll love that."

"You think they'll like me, the twins?" Jake asked, with a serious look on his face.

"Will you like them?"

"Sure - if they're girls." Jake joked, laughing along with his dad. It felt like the best sound in the world to him – laughter. He loved just being able to laugh at something without feeling like it was forced. "Yeah, I think I will."

"Then they'll love you. Do you know how I know that?" Neil asked, pulling into the driveway, "because Grace and I love you. Which brings us to the topic of Sunday lunch –"

**So, was it worth the wait? It's a bit messy in some places and I'm not delighted with every single bit of it. Next up will be the Sunday lunch with the Dasari's which will be a faster update than this one – I promise! However, for my self esteem and belief that this is going well, or to provide constructive criticism, **_**review please**_**!**


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